


Dropped in the state of imaginary grace

by amusensical



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Commune AU (RQG), Consensual, F/M, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Safe Sane and Consensual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:48:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28367904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amusensical/pseuds/amusensical
Summary: They all live together. On a regular basis and in various combinations, they sleep together. One night, a new friend makes Azu very happy and the extra paladin energy lights up the whole place.
Relationships: Azu/Edward Keystone, Azu/Grizzop drik Acht Amsterdam, Azu/Hamid Saleh Haroun al Tahan, Grizzop drik Acht Amsterdam/Hamid Saleh Haroun al Tahan, Grizzop drik Acht Amsterdam/Hamid Saleh Haroun al Tahan/Sasha Rackett
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	Dropped in the state of imaginary grace

**Author's Note:**

> Title from “I Melt With You” by Modern English  
> Inspired by and originally written on the When In Rome server

At some point Ed was in the city for a workshop, something the Aphrodite lot hosted to extend the healing arts. He and Azu sat in the back so they didn't obstruct anyone's view. They are both firmly on the "talk to anyone" end of the scale. (Azu realizes pretty quickly that they are also both on the "fuck everyone" end of the scale.)

Ed, predictably, has made zero plans for overnight accommodations for this three-day workshop. Azu discovers on day two that he slept on a big table somewhere in the conference center, and she insists that he come home with her.

On the train, they're both standing, and neither attempts to keep the sway of the train from moving them into each other.

It's after regular dinnertime when they arrive, so they walk straight through to the kitchen. Azu calls from the hallway, "I'm home. With a new friend," which is house-code for "please have pants on."

Ed has never met anyone like Azu. "I have never met anyone like you," he says.

"Oh, and cheers to the house and all who dwell here." Ed raises his glass and drinks. 

Azu grins, just beaming, raises her eyebrows and her glass. "We thank you, and bid you welcome and comfort."

_Suddenly it is warmer._

(Upstairs, Grizzop is stepping out of the shower and just, stops.)

(Hamid is at his desk, trying to get through just one more chapter, raises his head, as if a bell has been struck.)

"So when you said, 'come home with me,' did you mean 'you need a place to sleep and we have a couch' or did you mean 'come home with me because I have a bed and I want you in it?'"

"Well. What do you think I meant? Because, bed, actually, but if you would rather, couch?"

(Hamid steps out of his room. Grizzop steps out of the bathroom, in a towel.)

Ed ducks his head. "I hoped bed, but I'm not good at knowing all the time, so I have to ask."

Azu has been setting out stuff for sandwiches, closes the refrigerator. "Asking is good. It's good that you asked."

Ed practically wriggles.

_Suddenly it is warmer._

"What the fuck is going on in here, have you lit all the damn candles again?" Sasha never uses the front door.

"And Grizzop, you better not be out of the shower yet because I'm going to soap up that beefy goblin ass… Oh. Azu. And. New friend."

(Hamid and Grizzop are sitting on the top step. Hamid clamps both hands over his mouth. Grizzop puts his face in his hands.)

Ed laughs, just delighted, can't help it.

He jumps up and steps toward Sasha, reaching out to take bags from her, if she wants.

"I'm Ed." 

"I um. Have curry."

"Sasha, this is Ed. Ed, this is Sasha. She lives here, too, and Grizzop. And Hamid. And Zolf. Who's not here right now."

Sasha has handed Ed the takeout bags, because, well, he reached out for them.

Ed looks at Azu. Sasha is glad he's not looking right at her any more, although it wasn't bad, just kind of bright.

(Sasha passes Hamid on the stairs. Grizzop is still sat on the top step. Sasha sits down next to him. "Sorry mate. New friend seems all right though. Really, really friendly.")

"Curry's here?" says Hamid, breezing into the kitchen. His eyes are practically glowing, and his nostrils are flared, breathing the warmth. "Thought I smelled something spicy."

Azu shifts her gaze from Ed to Hamid, who cocks his head just a bit. She gives a tiny shrug, as if to say "Best find out now." On his way to the refrigerator, Hamid pats Azu on the ass. It is not ' _scuse me honey, can I get by you_ but _that's a fine familiar fundament you got there, gorgeous._

"You're a halfling!" says Ed.

"I am. I'm Hamid. Another beer?"

"Yes, please. Sorry, was that rude?" Ed looks back at Azu.

"Maybe a little," she says. She rubs her knuckles against Hamid's neck as he pulls bottles out of the refrigerator.

"Sorry. Hamid. Sorry."

Hamid steps over to Ed, setting a bottle on the kitchen island. Hamid's chest is at the level of the barstool, and he smiles up at Ed, puts a hand on his leg just above the knee. "It's OK. Really. Everything is fine."

Ed looks at Hamid's hand on his leg, looks up at Azu. "Everything?"

"Everything."

_Suddenly it is warmer._

(At the top of the stairs, Grizzop takes his head off of Sasha's lap. "Holy shit," he says.)

Azu gets out plates, forks, chopsticks. "We'd better eat," she says. 

(Upstairs, Grizzop puts on pants, but soft ones, with a drawstring. Any shirt, nothing special, unlikely he’ll be wearing it for long.)

The kitchen fairly simmers. It seems like a regular late supper, takeout containers, housemates at the island, empty bottles pushed to the center, chatting about the workshop.

"Azu is right brilliant, you know?" says Ed. "Hah, that's funny, right? Because she actually glows, and that's bright like brilliant."

"And she's wicked smart," says Grizzop. 

Ed swivels around and his eyebrows go up. "Yes! Really smart. I'm learning a lot."

"Mate, you have no idea," says Grizzop. "I'm Grizzop. I live here."

Azu leans forward, stage whispers, "He's a goblin. And technically this is his house."

"And he's a paladin, too. Like me. Like you."

Ed looks back at Azu, then Grizzop, then Azu again. "Holy shit," he says.

Hamid snorts from over at the sink, where he's filling another water pitcher.

Grizzop is filling a dish, trying and failing not to smile.

_Suddenly, impossibly, it is warmer._

Azu sets her dish over by the sink, brushes her knuckles against Hamid's neck, refills her wine glass from the bottle in the refrigerator, grabs two beer bottles.

Grizzop is sitting on the stool next to Ed, and as Azu goes by, Grizzop tilts his face up and Azu kisses his cheek.

Ed stands up where he is and takes the drinks from Azu's hands, sets them down, takes her face in his hands. They are smiling, both of them.

(Sasha is in the doorway, wouldn't miss this for anything.)

"OK to kiss you now?"

"You'd better," says Grizzop.

Azu puts her arms around Ed's waist and leans in, and there is the sense of a bell, struck, echoing.

At the sink, the pitcher is overflowing and water sprays on Hamid's face. "Oh, damn," he says, turning off the tap and noticing that Grizzop (seated) and Sasha (standing) are just watching Azu and Ed, kissing. 

Hamid picks up the pitcher and goes to Grizzop, tugging his arm. Grizzop slides off the stool and Hamid pushes him into Sasha. "Hey. Guys. Go."

Sasha blinks and Hamid hands her the pitcher. "Go. Put this is Azu's room. Take Grizzop. Grizzop! Hey."

Hamid picks up the other pitcher. "Azu," over his shoulder, "Love you. Have fun."

("Must be ten degrees cooler out here," says Sasha, on the stairs. She has a hand on Grizzop's shoulder, who is walking dreamily ahead of her. "What. Is that."

("Aphrodite meets Apollo, if I had to guess," says Hamid. "With pinch of Artemis, don't forget. Let's go to my room, if that's ok. We can watch a movie or something."

(Grizzop chuckles, then just keeps laughing. "Sure. That's probably what we'll do. Sash' best go lock the doors.")

Azu knows the others have left the kitchen, shifts her hands from Ed's waist to his ass. His eyes open, and she can feel him smile again against her mouth. She steps forward, crowding him with her hips into the island, shifting to press her crotch into his. He pulls his face back, inhales sharply, a throb of breath that matches the jerk of his cock against her.

She leans in and kisses him softly, then steps back, grasping his hands. "If you want, we can go to my room now. Or not. This is when you say."

Ed's mouth is a little open, and there is a sheen of sweat on his forehead. Azu takes another small step back, putting space between them while she still can, because that's the right thing to do.

"I want."

"You want what?"

"To stay. To be with you. To be in you."

"Oh, you blessed man," breathes Azu, leading him from the kitchen and toward the stairs. 

"Yes, actually," says Ed.

(Upstairs, Hamid is sitting against the pile of pillows on his bed, clicking through channels, reading off movie titles. Grizzop is pacing. His ears are spread out, listening, but he's not really hearing, not hearing Hamid anyway. "Whatever, you choose."

("I can't choose anything, 'Zop. I can barely even read the screen." Grizzop pauses, looks at Hamid in the blue screen-light. Hamid has the remote in one hand, but the other hand is pressed against his thigh, stroking from hip to knee and back, and he's rocking into that rhythm.

("Yeah," says Grizzop. "Yeah." They hear steps in the hallway, Azu and Ed passing. They don't hear steps at all as Sasha comes upstairs, then steps in, leaning against the door.)

Azu has the master suite at the end of the hallway, a bedroom that is mostly bed, a sitting area, and a bathroom that is mostly tub. Despite the hum in her ears and the wetness between her legs, she leads Ed over to the sofa. He is so willing, so easy to lead, she almost changes direction, but she knows that in this it is not just her goddess she is to obey.

The sofa isn't really that big. They are pressed hip to hip and thigh to thigh, and Azu tries to be earnest, but he is just so grand. "Ed," she starts. "Before, um, before, we should talk, yes?"

"Yes," says Ed, and he is earnest enough for them both. She should have known. "The talk. OK. I'm ready."

She just can't stop smiling. Safe words. Lines not to cross. Spare toothbrush and towels. He makes it so simple. After, he uses the bathroom first, comes out in her fluffy pink bathrobe.

(Down the hall, they hear the shout of Azu's laugh. Sasha smiles, moves from the door to the big armchair. Grizzop steps over, touches her hand, then steps, almost leaps to the bed. Hamid's arms are open, ready for him, ready to be rolled deeper into the pillows, Grizzop's mouth at his neck. The sounds they make are a hum, or a growl.)

"This is the softest robe ever," says Ed, petting the fabric over his chest and then stroking all the way down to his thighs. "I like that my skin is touching where your skin was touching." Azu is walking toward the bath when he says this, laughs again, a deep chuckle.

"Then you're going to really like my sheets," Azu says, "Go ahead, be waiting for me in my bed."

("Wait, hold on," pants Hamid, trying to pull his arms out of his sleeves and keep his arms around Grizzop at the same time. Grizzop is hugging hard, as if for safety, and finally Hamid manages to roll them back until he lying on top, then pushes up until he is sitting on Grizzop's belly. Grizzop's eyes are closed but his ears are alert, spread wide against the bed.

(Hamid gets his shirt off and tugs at Grizzop's sleeves, then hem, maneuvers the shirt off and slides down so he is lying on top again, skin to skin, this time his mouth at Grizzop's throat, the goblin's arms all the way around him.

("Soon," Grizzop says. "Hang on." They are both hard, both sweating, both pressing into each other as if they are trying to meld into one.

(Sasha has her hands upturned on the arms of the chair, eyes half-closed, watching, half-smiling.)

Azu steps out of the bathroom, naked. She has left the candles burning in the bathroom, turns off the other lights. The candlelight and her own glow are reflected in Ed's eyes as he watches her. As she puts one knee on the bed, then the other, her breath catches as his gaze shifts from warm to heated. He lifts up the sheet as she stretches out next to him, lets it fall over them, gently grasps her shoulder and rolls them together.

Where they touch, every place, there is a melting warmth. Azu reaches with her feet, touches Ed's feet. She wraps her arms around his neck. "Oh. Hmmm. There is just so much of you!" she says, and kisses him as he starts to answer. Ed has one arm under his head, using it for balance as they kiss, sweetly and then deeply and then hungrily. Ed gently cups Azu's breast, rubbing his thumb gently over the nipple, then pulling at it with little pinches.

"Ok?" Ed whispers, pinching harder.

"Oh yes," Azu whispers back. She frees one hand and pinches at Ed's nipple. "Fair," he says, kissing her throat, tasting sweat. He moves his hand against her waist, up the curve of her hip, down the solid slope of her thigh, then up where her thighs are pressed together, slowly. "Oh, yes," she says again, and shifts, opening. Ed presses his hand over her mound, covering it, his long fingers stretched along her cleft, groaning against her throat as she arches into his hand.

("Oh sweet goddess," whispers Grizzop, and Hamid feels a trembling shock move through him. A moment later there is a soundless bloom of sensation, of heat and delight.

(Grizzop pushes at Hamid's shoulders. "Get off, get off me." Hamid shifts to sit on the bed, dazed. Grizzop is wriggling out of his pants. "C'mon, please, Hamid." Grizzop is knelt in front of him, pulling down his pants, pulling them off. On all fours, face to face, Grizzop kisses him, on the mouth, softly. There's another wave of feeling, and Hamid feels himself bucking, aching.

("Sasha." Grizzop is moving, turning himself and Hamid. "Do you want to?"

("No, mate," she says. "All good here. I can feel that, though."

("All right then," Grizzop answers. He and Hamid are _soixante-neuf_ in the middle of the bed, each taking the other's cock with a moan of relief. This is familiar, anyway, the way they fit together, filling, being filled.)

Ed presses the tips of his longest fingers into Azu's wetness, then strokes upward to circle her clit, then down, dipping a bit deeper each time. "You are so sexy," he rumbles, holding her tightly around the shoulders. "So strong, so hot," stroking as he talks, Azu swirling her hips to the rhythm of his words. "So much love," cupping her as she comes.

Even as she is still trembling, Ed lifts her with the arm under her shoulders, then shifts them both until she is astride him, breathless. "Azu, can I be inside you now? Please?"

Azu shines. "Yes, Ed, now," and raises up, lowering on to him, opening as he thrusts upward, breathing together.

They find a rhythm, Azu moving above him, faster, until Ed grips Azu's hips, holding her still as he arches up into her with a long, shuddering exhale. "Here," he says, taking one of her hands and placing it on his forehead. He presses one of his hands against her chest, over her heart. "Bless. Just say her name."

"Goddess," Azu says, "Aphrodite," at the same time Ed says, "Apollo," both names lost as they cry out in ecstasy, again.

(Grizzop and Hamid buck against each other, utterly consumed. Grizzop tips over the edge first, moaning around Hamid's cock, which is enough to send Hamid. After, Grizzop whispers, and they shudder together, again.)


End file.
